That only works until your unit needs to go for maintainence, or suffers a failure.

It would be horribly ineficient to have two units based on every branch to cover, but if you did “clusters” of branches then you could work up an efficient fleet which includes adequate maintainence/failure cover without wasting the resources.

Some companies also have running powers over SBB main lines, such as the RM (which runs a quite extensive network of secondanty routes in Canton Bern) running into Luzern.

For example, in my area why not keep the Exmouth, Barnstaple and Paignton stopping services in one local “pool” based at Exeter, and from that hub develop Honiton, Okehampton, and maybe even Bideford and Tavistock services as well, sort of as a local “metro” service. (Taking over Pinhoe, Whimple and Feniton from SWT ought to improve journey times on the Wat-Exe service as well)

This would give you through running between the routes (as happens at the moment), whereas just having one branch (Barnstaple fits the quoted profile most closely) in a micro franchise would effectively cut it off from the rest of the area network.

Incidentally, it was proposed a few years back to join up the Exeter hub local routes with SWT’s diesel operated routes to make a new franchise, I think that could have been quite an interesting option, and would have been far better for the local network than “Supposedly Greater Western”

Martyn